January 23, 2015
Key history rewrite upsets Green
Greens co-leader Metiria Turei has accused Prime Minister John Key of undermining decades of treaty settlement efforts with his dismissal of the Waitangi Tribunal’s findings on Te Paparahi o te Raki claims.
In her speech today at Ratana Pa shortly before the Government was due to be welcomed on, Ms Turei said church founder Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana spent his life confronting politicians and Pakeha society about the need to provide redress for past injustices and to move forward as a true partnership.
She says the tribunal’s finding that Northern rangatira did not give up their sovereignty by signing the Treaty of Waitangi was an enormous step forward.
Mr Key’s response was to claim New Zealand was settled peacefully, as if all Maori grievances evaporated into irrelevance on his command, and that Maori would have been grateful for the injection of capital early Pakeha brought with them.
Ms Turei says the Prime Minister’s warped and outrageous view of history is deeply offensive to Maori and entrenches prejudice for his Government‘s short term goals.
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